Inspirations

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." - Isaiah 53:3-4

"There are two freedoms – the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought." - Charles Kingsley

PRAYER MOTIVATOR

"I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication." - Psalm 30:8

"Our growth in grace and power depends largely upon our individual, personal prayer life. Yet public worship is nonetheless important and necessary." - Constance Garrett

SOUL-WINNING MOTIVATOR

"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." - Colossians 4:6

Speak to "inflame the heart of the hearer, drag him away from his sin, and convert him to repentance." - Michael Green

Tony Campolo to Retire, End the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education

Tony Campolo, a progressive evangelical leader who counseled President Bill Clinton through the Monica Lewinsky scandal, announced Tuesday (Jan. 14) that the organization he founded nearly 40 years ago will close on June 30.

Campolo, 78, plans to retire with the closure of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, but he will continue to write and speak, with nearly 200 engagements scheduled for 2014. He said his health is fine and he wants to write one more book on how Christianity fits with the social sciences.

By June, Campolo said he anticipates there will be about $300,000 left to distribute to the offshoot ministries started by the larger EAPE. The 22 ministries that were started under EAPE now operate independently and will continue, including Red Letter Christians, where Campolo plans to spend most of his time.

Campolo, who ran for Congress in 1976 as a Democrat, considers himself to be theologically conservative but socially progressive. He is against legalized abortion and gay marriage while being progressive on issues related to poverty, race and American diplomacy.

While not embracing same-sex marriage, Campolo has said the two sides could find a detente if the government would “get out of the business of marrying people and, instead, only give legal status to civil unions.”

He still maintains his counselor relationship to Clinton, speaking with the former president about prayer and Bible study every couple of months. He said he is not in touch with the current Obama administration, despite being invited to an initial gathering of clergy. “To pastor one great leader in America at a time is enough for any person,” he said.

Several evangelical leaders have passed their ministries on to their children, including Billy Graham, Oral Roberts and Jerry Falwell. But Campolo said that wasn’t the case with his son, Bart, who left EAPE in 2011 to start his own urban ministry in Cincinnati.

“My son made it clear to me that he didn’t want to be responsible to carry on the old man’s work. I think I can understand that,” Campolo said. “My son’s theology has drifted to the left when EAPE is definitely evangelical.”